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Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
| runtime = 95 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $15 million | gross = $66,433,194 }} Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (also known as Power Rangers: The Movie) is a 1995 American superhero film based on the television series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. The film stars the regular television cast of Amy Jo Johnson, David Yost, Johnny Yong Bosch, Karan Ashley, Steve Cardenas, and Jason David Frank . The allies and villains are Australian and English actors. It was produced by Saban Entertainment and Toei Company. Filming took place in both Sydney and Queensland, Australia and the film was released by 20th Century Fox on June 30, 1995. Much like the television season that followed the release, the film used concepts from the Japanese Super Sentai Series Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. Despite a mixed reaction by critics, the film went on to receive a cult following thanks to the popularity of the TV series. It also grossed $38,187,431 theatrically in the U.S. and $66,433,194 worldwide, making it a financial success. Plot The Power Rangers, Rocky, Adam, Billy, Aisha, Kimberly and Tommy, participate with Bulk and Skull in a charity sky dive for Angel Grove in anticipation of Ryan's Comet which will pass near Earth in two days. After the Rangers jump, Bulk and Skull finally work up the nerve to jump as well, landing in a downtown construction site. At the same time the construction workers uncover a giant egg where they're digging. The egg's appearance alerts Zordon, who contacts the Rangers; he explains that 6,000 years ago, "a group of young warriors like themselves" (assumed to be their predecessors) lured a shape-shifter known as Ivan Ooze by trapping him in the egg and buried it to prevent Ooze from taking over the universe. He sends them to recover the egg, but Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Goldar, and Mordant release Ivan before the Rangers arrive. Ivan has several "oozelings" attack the Rangers. While the Rangers are fighting, Ivan infiltrates the Command Center and severely damages it, incapacitating Alpha and sending Zordon outside of the time-warp tube that keeps him alive. The destruction of the Command Center disables the Rangers' morphing powers, so Alpha sends them to the planet Phaedos to search for a greater power to defeat Ivan and save Zordon. Ivan double-crosses Rita and Zedd, trapping them in a snowglobe; not wanting to meet the same fate, Goldar and Mordant submit to him. Ivan decides to recruit the parents of Angel Grove to dig up his Ectomorphicon Titans, massive Zord-like machines buried long ago. Disguising himself as a carnival wizard, Ivan gives out free jars of ooze to the children of Angel Grove, including the Rangers' young friend, Fred Kelman. The parents are hypnotized by the ooze, and they become a work force for Ivan. Fred follows the parents and discovers Ivan's plans. Meanwhile, the Rangers arrive on Phaedos and fight off an attack from Ivan's minions, the Tengoo. They then meet Dulcea, a warrior who leads the Rangers to the great power. She teaches them to harness their animal spirits and directs them to a monolith which houses the power. The Rangers uncover the power, along with new Zords to match their animal spirits. With their power restored, they return to Earth to face Ivan. Having completed his Ectomorphicon machines, Ivan orders the parents to leap to their deaths at the construction site; Fred recruits their kids, along with Bulk and Skull, to help save them. The Rangers arrive and summon their Zords to stop the Ectomorphicons. When the Rangers destroy one of his two machines, Ivan merges with the other becoming a massive version of himself and in the process destroys the monorail track. While Tommy stops the train from derailing, the other Rangers form the Ninja Megazord. Unfortunately the Megazord's outmatched in the fight. All 6 form the Ninja Falcon Megazord and trick Ivan into chasing them into space. Billy suggests they drag Ivan into the path of Ryan's Comet to destroy him. Ivan Grabs them, but Aisha hits an emergency button which releases them from Ivan's Grip. The impact from the comet destroys Ivan while the rangers successfully avoid it and return to Earth. Ivan's destruction removes the hypnotic effects of the ooze. The parents, who have been held back by Fred and the other kids, are saved. The Rangers return to the Command Center where they learn that Zordon had succumbed to the weakness caused by leaving the tube. Tommy suggests using their powers to revive him. They're able to do so, restoring the Command Center and his time-warp tube. During the following celebration, Bulk and Skull are offended that the Power Rangers are given credit for saving the city even though the two of them legitimately had a large part in saving lives. Meanwhile, in Rita and Lord Zedd's Moon Base, Goldar decides to proclaim himself "King Goldar, the Ruler of the Universe," but when Rita and Lord Zedd enter the chamber, growling at their turncoat behavior, Goldar and Mordant look at each other in shock, only managing to utter "Uh-oh!" Cast * Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos, The Red Ranger * Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park, The Black Ranger * David Yost as Billy Cranston, The Blue Ranger * Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell, The Yellow Ranger * Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Hart, The Pink Ranger * Jason David Frank as Tommy Oliver, The White Ranger * Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch * Paul Freeman as Ivan Ooze * Nicholas Bell as Zordon ** Robert L. Manahan as Zordon's voice * Peta-Maree Rixon as Alpha 5 ** Richard Wood as Alpha 5's voice * Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Dulcea * Jamie Croft as Fred Kelman * Paul Goddard as Dave * Robert Simper as John * Julia Cortez as Rita Repulsa ** Barbara Goodson as Rita's voice * Mark Ginther as Lord Zedd ** Robert Axelrod as Zedd's voice * Kerry Casey as Goldar ** Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar's voice * Jean Paul Bell as Mordant * Richard Genelle as Ernie (deleted scenes) Music Adaptations in other media * Five different video game titles based on the movie were released for the Super NES, Sega Genesis, Game Boy, Sega CD and Game Gear. * Marvel Comics released a comic book adaptation and a photo comic book adaptation of the movie which was dated September 1995. The comic book was printed with two different covers - one featuring fully morphed rangers and the other featuring them in their Ninjetti uniforms. Release The film opened on June 30, 1995. Its opening rank was #4 with $13,104,788, behind Apollo 13, Pocahontas and Batman Forever in their third weekend. Critical reception In its opening weekend, the film came in fourth with $13,104,788 behind Apollo 13 and holdovers Pocahontas and Batman Forever. The film ultimately grossed $66,433,194 against a $15 million budget, making it a financial success. The film holds a 50% "Rotten" rating on the review aggregator website on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews, though there is no summarized consensus given for the film."Mighty Morphin Power Rangers - The Movie (1995)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 1, 2013. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought the film was characterized by "a barrage of spectacular special effects, a slew of fantastic monsters, a ferociously funny villain--and, most important, a refreshing lack of pretentiousness." Thomas lauded director Bryan Spicer for raising the quality of production values for a feature film adaptation of the TV series, while maintaining a likeable "comic-book look and sense of wonder" and wholesome high school characters parents would approve of. Caryn James of The New York Times thought the storywise, the film resembles multiple episodes of the television series stringed together with slightly better special effects, and that the result was loud, headache-inducing and boring for adults, but that children would enjoy it. James further stated that too much of the film's running time is spent showing the heroes without their powers. Roger Ebert gave the film one of four stars, saying that the film is "as close as you can get to absolute nothing and still have a product to project on the screen" comparing it to synthetic foods in brightly-marketed packaging with no nutrtional content. Ebert felt that the characters (with the exception of Ivan Ooze) lacked personalities, and that the scenes of monsters rampaging through the city harkened back to the worst Japanese monster films. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle found the fights, "only adequately choreographed", called the battle in the climax "a complete disaster", stating that it made no sense in timing, that protagonists were not very intelligent, and the actors playing them unremarkable. Home media The film was released on VHS in late 1995, and then on DVD in 2003. Bonus features included a theatrical trailer and a "Making Of" featurete. The film is sometimes bundled with Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie as a double feature. For reasons not specified, DVD releases of the film, as well as many airings on television and video-streaming sites, present the film with a small title change, omitting the "Mighty Morphin" portion of the title in the opening credits and changing it to simply "Power Rangers: The Movie." References External links * What REALLY happened: the first MMPR Movie - a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the movie, and the various problems encountered. * Category:Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Category:Power Rangers films Category:1995 films Category:1990s action films Category:1990s science fiction films Category:American films Category:American science fiction action films Category:English-language films Category:Directorial debut films Category:Films based on television series Category:Films set in California Category:Films shot in Australia Category:Films shot in Sydney Category:Martial arts science fiction films Category:Ninja films Category:Saban Entertainment films Category:20th Century Fox films